Everything beyond sticks, skates, and a helmet — socks, pads, visors, training gear, and the small items that need replacing regularly.
Beyond sticks, skates, and a helmet, a youth player's kit includes shoulder pads, elbow pads, shin guards, hockey socks, a mouthguard, and (per league rules) a neck guard or visor. Socks size by player height, pads by chest/arm measurement, and shin guards by knee-to-boot-top length — none follow shoe size or age alone. Consumables like tape, laces, and skate sharpening are ongoing costs, not one-time purchases. Street and inline hockey use a lighter version of the same gear list, swapping ice skates for inline skates and a puck for a ball or disc.
Hockey socks are long, tube-style knit socks worn over shin guards, held up with sock tape or a garter belt rather than elastic alone. They're sized by player height/leg length (youth, junior, intermediate, senior ranges), not shoe size, and most teams issue or require socks in specific team colors. Cut-resistant socks — made with a Kevlar-blend knit — add a layer of protection against skate blades and are increasingly required at higher competitive levels, though they cost noticeably more than standard knit socks.
Shoulder pads size by chest measurement and typically split into "hard cap" (more protection, more common at higher-contact levels) and "soft cap" (lighter, more common for younger and non-checking levels) styles. Elbow pads size by measuring from the middle of the palm to about two inches above the elbow with the arm bent — a proper fit has the pad's cap centered directly over the elbow joint with no gap to the glove cuff or shoulder pad, since that gap is a common, avoidable protection hole similar to the shin-guard-to-pants overlap on the lower body.
Shin guards are sized by measuring from the middle of the kneecap to the top of the skate boot — the guard should cover that full distance and tuck under the sock without a gap. A visor (half shield) attaches to a helmet and is only permitted at the age brackets and levels where a full cage isn't required — see our helmet guide for cage-vs-shield rules, since visor eligibility depends on league policy, not just player preference.
Beyond game-issued pucks, many families keep a set of weighted or "sniper" training pucks and a backyard or driveway net for off-ice shooting practice. Training nets range from lightweight folding nets for casual driveway use to regulation-size nets with target corners for shooting-accuracy drills — regulation size is only necessary if the practice space genuinely allows for full shots on net; a smaller folding net is more practical for tighter spaces like a garage or basement.
Street and inline hockey use a lighter equipment set than ice hockey — a ball or puck-style disc instead of a standard ice puck, inline skates instead of ice skates, and often lighter, less bulky protective gear since there's no ice-skate-blade cut risk. Goalies are the exception: a street or inline goalie generally uses the same core protective pieces as an ice goalie (mask, leg pads, blocker, catcher — see our full goalie equipment guide), sometimes in lighter-weight versions built for the lower-impact surface.
Team-issued jerseys are typically provided or ordered through the club in team colors and sizing, separate from any NHL or fan-replica jerseys a family might buy for casual wear or gifts. Fan jerseys are sized like regular athletic apparel (by chest/height), not by the youth/junior/senior categories used for protective gear, since there's no padding underneath to size around.
Shoulder pads, elbow pads, shin guards, hockey socks, a mouthguard, and — depending on league rules — a neck guard or visor. Consumables like tape, laces, and regular skate sharpening are ongoing costs on top of the initial kit.
By player height/leg length (youth, junior, intermediate, senior ranges), not shoe size. They're worn over shin guards and held up with sock tape or a garter belt rather than elastic alone.
They're increasingly required at higher competitive levels and add real protection against skate-blade contact, but cost more than standard knit socks — check your league's specific requirement before assuming you need them.
Street and inline hockey use inline skates instead of ice skates and a ball or disc instead of a standard puck, generally with lighter protective gear since there's no skate-blade cut risk — except for goalies, who use largely the same core protective pieces as an ice goalie.
Both are consumables replaced regularly through a season, not one-time purchases — cloth blade tape and sock tape wear out with use, and laces should be replaced when fraying rather than waiting for them to snap mid-game.